Photo via Mary King on Facebook.
The almost indestructible Mary King is recovering having fractured vertebrae, ribs and her shoulder blade in a fall from a young horse. The 61-year-old eventing legend was taken to hospital after the “unplanned dismount”. Her daughter, Emily King, explained that the wind caught the arena gate and blew it into the horse’s quarters. She’s already back at home however, and will not need surgery to repair her breaks, just rest (if they can get her to do that!).
Emily posted the following on Mary’s Facebook page:
So Mumma’s taken a tumble and is in quite a few pieces but spirits remain firmly unbroken! A windy morning riding a youngster in the arena resulted in an unplanned dismount when the entrance gate caught the wind and swung into the babies quarters – she hung on like a pro as he bronked across the soft sandy school but unfortunately timed her dismount with the wooden siding to the arena/ stoney outside. Unfortunately this has resulted in fractures to her C3 vertebra (and wings of several other vertebrae), 7 ribs and left scapular.
Luckily all fractures are stable, do not require operations, and she is now back home enjoying the sunshine and peacefulness. She’s 100% in herself and is already looking at the event calendar and threatening to pick up her tennis racket (!!) – I’ve warned her to stop joking or I’ll be putting her on a lead.
A huge thank you to Annie Corbin for dropping everything and zooming to her aid, and to the incredible team at Derriford hospital who cared for her impeccably.
I also wanted to say that even though the media has maybe died down a little Nicola Wilson and Caroline March we are still thinking of you every single day and praying that you both make as successful recoveries as possible… never ever feel that people have stopped thinking and praying for you.
Times like these remind us how precious life is and that we must not take any day or anything for granted.
Love Em & (a dreamy morphined) Mum (!)
U.S. Weekend Preview:
Fox River Valley H.T. (Barrington, IL): [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scores]
Horse Park of New Jersey H.T. I (Allentown, NJ): [Website] [Scores] [Volunteer]
Inavale Farm H.T. (Philomath, OR): [Website] [Ride Times/Scores] [Volunteer]
Larkin Hill H.T. (North Chatham, NY): [Website] [Scores] [Volunteer]
Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Summer H.T. (Leesburg, Va.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Scores] [Volunteer]
Midsouth Pony Club H.T. (Lexington, KY): [Website] [Ride Times/Scores] [Volunteer]
Stable View Summer H.T. / Area III Championships (Aiken, SC): [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Scores] [Volunteer]
Valinor Farm H.T. (Plymouth, MA): [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
Major International Events
LOTTO Strzegom Horse Trials: [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [Live Stream] [Event Preview]
News From Around the Globe:
Ever wanted to join team EN? Do you love writing stories about the sport you call home? Want to test your creative chops in the equine media industry? Enter our 9th Blogger Contest for you chance to do exactly that! We can’t wait to see the entries this year — we’ve already gotten some great ones! More info on how to enter and what we’re looking for here. And be sure to follow our Instagram story for takeovers from our team members!
Hannah Sue Hollberg had a silly fall three years ago while schooling at home, and suffered serious soft tissue damage to her core that was mis-diagnosed several times and took a very long time to rehabilitate. Through this long journey of recovery, she has changed a lot about her riding and training program, and added a show-jumping husband to the mix. [Hannah Sue: Back From the Brink]
The marathon to Mondial du Lion is in the home stretch. For the past two years, horses competing in the YEH series are nearing the end of one of the most unique and trying qualifying periods in the sport’s history. Following the difficulties the COVID-19 pandemic presented to eventers and other equestrians alike during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, athletes and breeders are eager to jet off to the 2022 FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Mondial du Lion. In total, sixteen YEH graduates are in contention for the prestigious Holekamp/Turner Grant & The Dutta Corp. Prize which will assist with costs associated, but which horses are qualified? [Who’s In Contention For Le Lion?]
Unfortunately, unruly dogs continue to cause major problems at events both large and small. The most recent incident saw the fall of Tom McEwen and Bob Chaplin late on course when a dog on an retractable leash ran out from the fence line. The outcome of the spill could have been incredibly bad, and Tom was rightfully visibly angry when he got up. [Dogs, Extendable Leads, and Preventable Accidents]
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